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Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim and 27 associates at the Ibn Khaldun Centre for Developmental Studies (ICDS) were first arrested on June 30, 2000.

Dr Ibrahim, an internationally renowned sociologist and advocate of democracy and human rights, is the Director of the Ibn Khaldun Centee which is a non-governmental research organization. In the initial trial, Egyptian State Security pressed three charges: receiving funding without authorization, dissemination of false information abroad, and appropriating money by fraudulent means.

This case is particularly important because it is symptomatic of the larger issue of democratic development in Egypt. The conviction of Saad Eddin Ibrahim and the Ibn Khaldun co-defendants is a direct assault on Egypt's fledgling civil society, and has sent shock waves through the community of human rights groups, professional syndicates and other NGOs.